Fusion of Red Ghost

By Lydia Doneday

The sky recorded the interplay of plasma lightsabers and magic, and the earth buried the remains of dragons and mechs.

　　Wars have followed the intersection of the celestial spheres, and this time and space has witnessed the rise and fall of all races.

　　In this era where mechs and muscles collide, Lu Xun takes the "omniscient right

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angela Leon
• Release date: Jan 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869349750

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Fusion of Red Ghost

Copyright © 2024 by Lydia Doneday

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Disclaimer

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Ebook ISBN: 979-8-8693-4975-0

Cover designed by Lydia Doneday

Edited by Lydia Doneday

Fusion of Red Ghost

Chapter 1: The Right Hand of Omniscience

Early morning.

Lu Xun was wearing a blue and white school uniform with a backpack slung across his right shoulder.

With his left hand in his pocket, he pushed the door with his right hand and walked into the classroom.

The jostling of his classmates gradually subsided, and dozens of pairs of eyes focused on him, their gazes tinged with surprise.

Lu Xun looked at them as well, and after a slight hesitation, he reached out and greeted them, Hello everyone, happy new semester.

The classroom exploded.

Crap! Old Lu you still know to come back?

Yo, Schoolboy Lu is here, I thought you dropped out!

Happy new semester? It's been two weeks since the start of school big brother!

......

The students were surprised by his presence.

A couple of boys gathered around and asked him what he had been doing for the past two weeks.

Lu Xun didn't explain much, just shrugged his shoulders, said something at home and dismissed the crowd, then carried his backpack towards his seat.

Rear window position.

A humanoid skeleton slumped over a desk and huffed.

Its entire body was devoid of flesh and blood, and the eerie white bones were exposed in the air.

Hardly a shroud for the loose blue and white school uniform.

Big Bone, don't sleep, get up and make way for brother.

Lu Xun patted its skull, making a thud sound.

The skeleton sleepily straightened its upper body, a red soul fire gradually lighting up in its pitch-black eye sockets.

When he saw the person in front of him clearly, the soul fire leapt up madly, and the skeleton let out an exclamation of surprise in a tender child's voice: Lu!!!

The skeleton was named Ur Marcellus Leighton.

Necromancers.

Ur traveled from Middleton, the ancestral home of the Necromongers, to the Human Federation last year as an exchange student.

After coming to Jinghai No. 1 Middle School, he was at the same table with Lu Xun for a year.

There are more than a dozen exchange students like this one throughout the school, from different races and in all grades and classes.

They only have Ur in their senior class (4).

Everyone was a little afraid of this new Necromonger classmate at first.

The white, ghastly skeletons and soul fires could scare passersby out of their wits walking around campus in the middle of the night.

But soon the class realizes that Ur is actually pure of heart and has a heart of gold.

He is now accepted by most of his classmates and has been nicknamed Big Bone.

Ur and Lu Xun are on the best of terms.

When it saw Lu Xun appear, it hurriedly got up to make way. It waited for its tablemate to walk in and take a seat before it started asking questions.

Where have you been all this time, Lu? The opening ceremony did not come even if, but also even skipped two weeks of classes! Even if you're a school bully, you can't be so capricious, the old class will definitely want to clean you up in a while.

I've already met the old class just now, there's no need for you to worry about this matter. Lu Xun said blandly while finding many brand new textbooks in the table, all unopened.

Ur took it upon himself to take credit, Hey, I got your textbooks for the new semester, so don't flatter me!

Thanks.

Lu Xun took out the textbooks, opened them one by one, and wrote his name on the title page with a carbon pen.

Lu Xun glanced at it and said indifferently, You're a scum who actually reminds the No. 1 school bully in the whole year to study hard, aren't you getting it backwards?

It's only when the scum skip class that the teachers get out of the police, and the good students get to do whatever they want!

Er ......

Ur was speechless.

It then remembered Lu Xun's glorious battle record.

As a poor student living in the general district of Jinghai City, he was admitted to the First High School in the elite privileged district in junior high school with perfect scores in all subjects in the midterm exam!

First High School is the top school in Jinghai City in terms of educational resources.

The entire school is almost entirely D.C. residents, and the students are either well off, with parents who are members of the D.C. elite, or are exchange students like Ur.

A commoner who enters a noble school for the elite and tops the grade for five consecutive semesters.

This is unbelievable!

Everyone was unable to comprehend Lu Xun's superb learning ability.

Although there are many prosthetics on the market that enhance the brain's memory and storage capacity.

If one is willing to pay a heavy amount of money to load artificial implants such as digital light-brains and external access disks into the head, one can download vast amounts of knowledge directly from the internet into the brain and access it at any time.

However, according to the laws of the League of Man, minors as well as high school students are prohibited from modifying their physical bodies and implanting prosthetics of any kind; they are also prohibited from being injected with genetically enhanced potions.

Not even if the guardian agrees.

Any decent prosthetic hospital will not accept minors and high school students ...... unless they come across special circumstances.

There was once a student in a middle school who went to a black clinic and quietly implanted a prosthetic body in his brain, and the college entrance examination was directly turned into an open-book examination.

But then they were caught for cheating.

Along with that prosthetic black clinic.

Lu, be honest, did you have a brain implant installed? Or have you had a genetic enhancement injection? Ur skull face came over, soul fire jumping in his eyes, looking him up and down, lowering his voice, Send it all buddy, I promise not to report you.

How can a poor student like me have the money to fix all this? Lu Xun denied it and said with a bashful face:

Big Bone ah, I can get where I am today, all thanks to my own hard work! Don't think of shortcuts, if you want to study well, you have to be down-to-earth and put in hard work.

It dawned on Ur that he couldn't help but be impressed and give the table a thumbs up.

In the meantime.

Lu Xun extended his right hand.

Grab a new semester's history textbook, and in your mind--

'Parse!!!'

Buzz~

The vision in front of him began to distort, and the textbook sucked his consciousness in as if it were a vortex.

[Analyzing...5%...20%...38% ......]

Huge streams of information flooded his brain.

[Parsing complete, iconography included.]

[Characteristics +0.001]

......

After only seven seconds, Lu Xun opened his eyes and a look of realization appeared on his face.

From the material, structure, and type of ink of this book, to the words and patterns of each chapter and section, they are all parsed and no secrets exist.

The knowledge in the entire book is also melded together.

Not only do you know what you know, but you know why you know it.

This was Lu Xun's golden finger.

His right hand is capable of completely resolving all matter in the world and obtaining all information from any carrier.

Parsing textbooks, you can gain knowledge; parsing guns, cars, mechs, tools ...... can instantly clarify their construction as well as operating principles, and become proficient in their use and operation.

Lu Xun called it the Right Hand of Omniscience.

It has two functions: parsing and projection.

The Projection function is only for living organisms.

The iconography of each race is included by parsing the organism, or the remains of the organism. Note that similar species at different life levels also form different biological iconography.

When the completeness of the iconography reaches 10% or more, you can consume trait points to project the genes of various races onto your own body and fuse them.

However, gene fusion requires a very high degree of fit.

If the fit is below 99%, the fusion will turn into an ugly monster that loses its intelligence.

Only when the fit is 99% and above, the human body can be perfectly compatible with alien genes.

This is somewhat similar to the principle of the genetic enhancement potions developed by biotechnology.

But it's far harsher than a shot.

It has been thirteen years since Lu Xun traveled to this stitched world that has experienced five celestial spheres converging.

The tens of thousands of native Bluestar species he had parsed, and over a hundred off-world races.

No gene with a fit higher than 99% has been found so far.

It was a great pity for him.

Although he has taken the scholar route, he has taught himself prosthetic medicine, and his ideal future specialty is mecha manufacturing and repair or archaeology.

But what man can resist the temptation of a big muscle?

Fit and tough, full of both the androgynous charisma that attracts the opposite sex and the hard power that physically hypnotizes street skaters and punches a karami.

Lu Xun certainly aspired to become stronger.

But one of the cheapest reinforced needles on the market costs more than 50,000 U.S. dollars.

He couldn't afford kryptonite, so he had to pin his hopes on the right hand of omniscience.

Chapter 2: The Maiden Elf

He used the same approach.

Parsed Linguistics, Otherworldly Biology, Physics, Math, Chemistry, and New World Geography ...... all.

It took only five minutes to master the entire second semester of the entire senior year.

This is not simply memorization, but the knowledge mentioned in the textbook has been integrated. Unless he encounters difficult questions that are beyond the syllabus, he can give standard answers.

It was still early, some students were chatting and playing around, some were catching up on their sleep, and some good students had already started brushing up on their practice.

The classroom was a little quieter until the bell rang.

But to everyone's surprise, the first period is obviously a history class, walked in but the class teacher Zhang Lei.

Old Ben stepped up to the podium and looked around before saying:

I have an announcement to make, a new student has transferred to our class. Like Ur, the new student is a foreign student.

With that, he looked in the direction of the door and smiled, Come in.

The crowd was stunned and reacted by snapping and clapping.

A beautiful silhouette walked through the door to applause.

The first thing that caught her eye was a pair of stunning green emerald eyes and a pair of white pointed ears.

She was extremely pretty, with a melon face, willow leaf eyebrows, high nose and cherry mouth.

The features were perfect and there were no traces of makeup on her face, she appeared purely vegan.

A head of silver-white hair poured down like a waterfall, falling to her waist;

The eyes behind the bangs were like two emerald gems, noble in their coolness.

The young girl was tall and well-built.

Countless students hate the school uniform of the first middle school, wearing her body does not look bloated, but a kind of pavilion feeling.

As soon as she made her debut, she gave the entire class of 4 a beauty blast!

Tsk, tsk, she should fit in well with your human aesthetic, right? Ur whispered to his tablemate, Only the Elves could give birth to such a purely natural beauty without technology and hard work.

The Elves are known worldwide for their beauty, the men are handsome, the women are beautiful, and Elves are hardly ever ugly.

Lu Xun didn't otherwise and nodded bashfully, but took exception to the second half of its sentence:

Don't be awkwardly black, Big Bone, our Human Race has no shortage of beautiful women, there are quite a lot of naturally beautiful people, what do you Necromancers know!

There are over a hundred intelligent races on the globe today, all with vastly different aesthetics.

Lu Xun had asked Big Bone about its criteria for choosing a mate, and then was deeply shocked by its answer, causing him to still remember the conversation-

Choose a spouse standard ah? Na na na, Lu brother I treat you as a brother before I tell you oh. I like a girl who has clothes and loves cleanliness, the color of the soul fire doesn't matter, but her bones have to be white and smooth enough, there can't be dirt in the joint crevices, the spine has to be straight, the pelvis has to be well-proportioned, and the temporal bone is slightly flattened, and it's even better if the curvature of the ribs is a little more graceful, it's going to be very sexy ......

So discussing women with this guy is a complete waste of time.

Sexy in the bone?

Totally cross-species communication, people's aesthetics aren't on the same page.

Ur asked with a bad smile:

Lu did you have a thumping heart?

Childish. Lu Xun's face was expressionless.

......

The elf walked up to the podium and politely introduced himself.

Her name was Violet, and she had come to human society as an exchange student two years earlier.

A few days ago, she took the initiative to contact the Elven ambassador to the United Nations of Man to complete the formalities to transfer from Titan City to Jinghai First High School.

At those words, the crowd felt surprised.

Titan City was a rank six self-cycling city.

There were only four cities of that level in the entire human federation!

The economy, technology, and productivity are highly developed, and basically demand-driven, with all kinds of resources at the top of the heap.

Jinghai is a secondary self-circulating city, and only the elite citizens of the Inner City Special Zone have escaped poverty, making up 3% of the total population.

The remaining 97% of civilians in the outer cities continue to have a hard life.

Lu Xun would be able to wake up laughing in his dreams if he had the legal domicile of Titan City!

What is the concept of distribution on demand?

Instead of staying in that kind of paradise, this elf had transferred to a poor nook like Jinghai City.

Classmate Wei'er will use that empty desk first. The old class pointed to the desk by the window in the last row of the classroom and said to her, I'll transfer your seat after a while.

The elf nodded and headed for the back with his backpack.

The expression on her pretty face is cold and clear, like an ice sculpted orchid, and it is not like she is deliberately straining her face to pretend to be high and cold, mostly because of her character.

Rather coincidentally, the elf's seat was right behind Lu Xun and Ur, and everyone was in the front and back rows.

Hello, Violet-san, my name is Ur, you can just call me Big Bone.

The Ur-Skull's mouth opened and closed, and the soulfire jumped in his eyes, offering a greeting.

Please take care of yourself, fellow Necromancer Big Bone. She politely shook the other's bony palm lightly, not disliking it.

In fact, throughout history, the Elves and the Necromancers had a deep old grudge.

The Elves love nature and honor the laws of life.

The Necromancers are the opposite, believing that death is the beginning of life and that necromancy is the essence of the universe.

The two races loathe each other and see each other as heretics.

Later, during the Global War after the Third Celestial Sphere Convergence, through the mediation of the League of Man, the two races finally put aside their differences and shook hands to make peace.

After another fourth and fifth war, the Elves and Necromancers had long since become solid allies.

From questioning, to understanding and accepting each other, history has seen it all.

It has been proved that in matters of fundamental contradictions and conflicts concerning racial beliefs, it may not be possible to resolve them by the intelligence of the creatures.

But the external pressure of life and death can motivate both sides of the conflict to put aside their preconceptions and be united.

There's nothing that can't be reconciled under the existential pressure of a dead race.

Lu Xun looked at the elves and necromancers who were shaking hands in front of him and couldn't help but feel slightly emotional.

He extended his hand to Violet as well, shook it politely, and introduced himself, Lu Xun.

If you need any help, just ask us! Ur beat his sternum together and proudly said, I'm the top deskmate in my grade, so if you want to copy your homework, just ask for it!

If you take out the word of the table, it's a very gold-plated, very forced statement.

But adding those three words makes it look piggish.

Okay, thanks Ur-san.

Even more outrageously, the elf actually nodded his head very seriously and sincerely:

In the subject of Math, I do have a need to copy homework. But I'm doing well in Linguistics and New World Geography, so I can lend you my homework in the future.

You don't need to lend me your homework. Ur said confidently, I don't need to.

Violet froze and then nodded, Okay, I get it.

Satisfied that she understood, Ur turned to Lu Xun and told him that she understood.

But Lu Xun felt that she didn't actually get it.

She just mistakenly assumed that her deskmate at the top of the grade must have good grades as well.

Unaware of the disastrous consequences that would result from her copying Ur's math homework when Lu Xun himself hadn't even done his homework!

......

After the hiccup, class continued.

To the right of Lu Xun sat a skeleton, and behind it sat an elf.

Three different races, gathered in this tiny corner.

The experience was slightly marvelous, and he couldn't help but be in reverie.

Veerle should be just as good at magic as Ur, for sure.

Yes, magic!

Ever since the celestial spheres converged, something from this fantasy tale has actually appeared on the Blue Planet.

Unfortunately, humans can't manipulate magical elements to learn how to use them.

Lu Xun didn't believe it at first, coaxing Ur to teach him some small magic for fun, but he couldn't learn even the simplest ritual magic!

However, he has a right hand of omniscience, and after integrating the genes of otherworldly races, he should be able to manipulate magical elements as well.

...... The future is bright!

Chapter 3: Dungeons

Before we knew it, all the morning classes were over and it was time for lunch break.

Ur was excited to invite Lu Xun to the hot springs.

Lu Xun really couldn't imagine the hellish image of soaking in a hot spring with a bunch of bones, so he refused.

You're on your own, I have to leave school for a few days.

Huh? Didn't you just come back, Lu, why are you leaving again? Ur was dumbfounded, Did Old Ben agree?

Well, the old class allowed me to take classes only two mornings a week ...... provided my academic performance didn't slip.

He went to Zhang Lei's office in the morning to talk about this matter.

Zhang Lei is a reasonable homeroom teacher who appreciates Lu Xun as a good student and knows something about Lu Xun's family situation.

As the only poor student in the entire Jinghai No. 1 Middle School, Lu Xun's situation was indeed a bit special, so the old class allowed it.

In fact, aristocratic schools don't usually enroll out-of-town civilian students.

There is a special reason why Lu Xun is the exception.

His parents had sacrificed their lives for the great underground development of Jinghai City.

After his parents left, his aunt and uncle took Lu Xun into their home and raised him as if he were their own.

But uncle also suffered an accident in a dimensional rift exploration operation organized by the Jinghai high level three years ago, and became crippled ...... not just a normal cripple, but a crippled to the extreme kind.

Several elders have made great sacrifices for the development of the city.

Not long ago, Jinghai City had passed the Human League audit, and had successfully been promoted from the lowest level of a first class self-circulating city, to a second class!

A small level that has cost generations.

The city was full of celebrations and excitement.

But many meritorious men were absent from the celebrations, and they fell before the dawn to their eternal rest.

As a commoner Lu Xun, can be admitted to the first high school, and exempt from the extremely high tuition, poverty subsidies ...... This is actually thanks to the uncle's work injury compensation.

But, he is still very short of money.

It's not even a small amount that's missing.

Instead, it's a huge amount of money!

A huge sum of money that even many elite families living in the inner city D.C. can't easily come up with!

That's why Lu Xun always seemed out of place with his peers.

While his classmates were studying, he was getting money!

While his classmates shopped and shopped, he was getting money!

When his classmates were getting laid, he was still getting money!

Lu Xun said that Wuer was childish and immature, and that they were all living like children.

But in his heart he was actually more or less envious of them ......

Three years in high school, other people's youth is colorful.

And his three years, spent at the operating table of a black clinic, his youth was only the color of blood.

......

Lu if you're short of money tell me, Middleton's embassy in the HFL allocates me over eight thousand dollars a month to live on, I have no place at all.

Ur couldn't help but pull Lu Xun to the corner and said quietly:

I've saved over forty thousand of my own, and I'm giving it all to you, and I'll give you six thousand every month from now on until the end of my residency semester.

Don't go to odd jobs, it's hard and tiring and you can't earn much money. You're a middle school student, don't live so hard.

Let's go Lu, come with me to the hot springs!

At those words, Lu Xun gave it a meaningful look.

This kid, he actually tried to give 3/4 of the money the embassy gave him to study abroad to his tablemates.

If their clan found out, they'd tear your skeleton apart!

The Necromancers gave you the grant so that you could buy study materials, hire tutors, do experiments, and learn knowledge with it, counting on you to bring back human knowledge to help the Necromancers develop and build.

Lu Xun said to him, It's not for you to use to pick up your tablemates. Keep the money for yourself, I don't need it.

I understand all the reasoning, but I'm not fucking material for studying at all! Ur couldn't help but hang his head, the soul fire in his eyes was absent.

When it first came to Jinghai First High School a year ago, it was at the bottom of its grade, and now, a year later, it is still at the bottom of its grade.

It feels that the clan is really blind to choose this piece of waste material to come to the Human League further study.

We've been exposed to math and science since kindergarten to build a foundation, and you're trying to catch up after only one year?

Don't deny yourself so easily, math isn't as scary as you think, take your time, everything will be fine.

Lu Xun patted its shoulder as a sign of encouragement.

Then he waved his hand, dropped a bye-bye and turned to leave with his bag on his back.

Slightly lost in thought, Ur watched his good buddy's back drift away until it disappeared from view.

It suddenly remembered something, and the soul fire in its eyes rubbed up, busy chasing after it, shouting as it ran:

Crap! Who am I going to copy my homework from now that you're gone, Luk? What about Violet's homework?

Unfortunately, Lu Xun slipped away without looking back.

Leaving Ur in a daze.

It once again recalled the horror of being dominated by math teacher Zhou Yong.

Couldn't help but wince.

The last two weeks of school, it math class was spent in punishment.

It was hard to hope for a savior, but it flew away again after dangling in front of my eyes.

It instantly lost even the thought of taking a dip in the hot springs ......

In the entire class 4, Ur had only one good buddy in Lu Xun.

The other students have a really average relationship with it, and it's too embarrassed to go to others to borrow homework to copy.

How can it live without Lu?

Jinghai City consists of three parts: it is divided into an inner and outer city, and an underground city.

Both the inner and outer cities are residential, commercial, and recreational areas ...... collectively known as living areas.

The inner city is also known as the elite zone.

The inner and outer city areas are not isolated and can be traveled to and from freely.

However, civilians from the outer cities must obtain a pass if they want to enter the SAR to settle and live.

The prerequisite for obtaining a pass is to become an elite citizen.

What exactly constitutes an elite citizen?

According to Lu Xun's understanding, it is based on the value that an individual creates for the society.

Jinghai City will set a standard line of values used to distinguish the elite from the non-elite.

This standard is not set by man.

There is a supercomputer in Jinghai City, and the system administrator is an artificial intelligence called Lingxi, which can also be called 0c.

It's set.

Doctors, construction workers, magicians, breeders, city hunters, city defense forces, cab drivers ...... No matter what occupation you are in, as long as you can create value for Jinghai City and the value reaches that standard, you can be certified as an elite by 0c.

When you become an elite, you can work and live in the inner city, and your children and grandchildren have D.C. residency until they reach adulthood.

Some people make the class leap after just a few years.

But some people toss around their whole lives and end up being civilians.

It's cruel to use AI to manage the promotion paths of millions of people across an entire city.

Human value is specifically quantified, which is actually scary.

Someone says you're worthless, and you can yell out, Don't fool the old man.

But 0c thinks you're a loser, and you can't even argue ...... because the data is thrown right in your face that you just can't add much value to society.

Take Lu Xun's uncle for example, in 0c's judgment, he's probably a waste of air to even be alive, a scum that doesn't need to exist and drags humanity down.

And, it merely seems fair.

Because the educational resources available to the commoners simply can't compete with the elites in the inner city.

The odds are that the children of the elite can be elite as well.

And it's hard for the offspring of commoners to have a fish to fry.

But there's also a benefit to AI managing cities.

It can make absolutely rational judgments, draw up a route most conducive to the development of the city, maximize the use of all the resources of a city, do a good job of talent echelon reserves, and make good use of every inch of land.

On a macro level, AI has indeed lifted more and more humans out of poverty, and technology has indeed advanced by leaps and bounds, with a free city prospering day by day, and the human community increasingly thriving.

And 0c is only system management, it has no decision making power when it comes to major matters, it can only provide programs.

All in all the pros outweigh the cons for now.

As long as the ai doesn't rebel, it's a good partner for humans!

......

Lu Xun walked through the busy streets, crossed the tall city walls, and returned to the outer city, and immediately felt a strong sense of disparity.

The low rise of one house, the garbage everywhere, the wild dogs rolling in the mud ...... are in stark contrast to the inner city.

One wall, two worlds.

Lu Xun belongs to this one outside.

The material life and security conditions are vastly different from those in the inner city.

Lu Xun glanced back at the tall wall, then moved his gaze away and continued on his way, not lingering.

One day, he would take his aunt, uncle and cousin and move to the inner city to settle down.

It was a determination he had made many years ago, and today it remained sharp and unchanged.

Instead of going home, he changed directions and headed for the dungeon entrance.

The inner and outer cities are nothing more than living quarters.

And it is the underground city that is the core, the lifeblood of a self-circulating city!

What is a self-recycling city?

As the name suggests, the mere functioning of a city on its own creates enough resources to supply the entire population of the city with what they need to live.

Even if the gates were closed for a thousand years, people's lives would remain unaffected.

When there is an invasion by a foreign enemy, the city's defense system ensures that most crises are resolved.

Even in the event of an extinction-level disaster, the entire surface population can be evacuated to the dungeon within a few hours, turning it into a fully enclosed underground shelter!

This is the standard for a Class 1 self-circulating city.

Cities that can stand on their own as a paradise.

The Jinghai City on the surface was just the tip of the iceberg.

The dungeon, that's what it really is!

There are more than three hundred floors of bases below Jinghai City.

Steel mills, farms, stockyards, paper mills, breweries, power plants ...... All the resources needed for human life originate in the dungeons.

The entire underground world of more than three hundred floors was the result of the pioneering efforts of more than a dozen generations of people in Jinghai.

This behemoth, located underground, is like the heart of the city, constantly pumping blood to the surface and sustaining the lives of millions of citizens.

The Self-Circulating City existed in response to the next Heavenly Orb Convergence, the next Hundred Races War.

Each race has racked its brains and exhausted its resources in order to survive.

Because who knows if the next one to perish will be himself?

......

Lu Xun waited in line in front of one of the elevator entrances for ten minutes before his turn finally came.

Please come forward, place your hands on the touch screen and look straight ahead with your eyes. An electronic tone beep sounded.

Lu Xun provided his palm print and iris and authenticated his identity by scanning.

Hello Lu, skipping class again? That's not a good habit.

The school approved it, so don't nag.

Are you going to apprentice at the Lin Sheng Slaughterhouse on the -174th floor today as well?

Yes. Lu Xun said lightly, I'm a high school student, the law says you can't sign a formal labor contract, what am I doing if I don't become an apprentice? You set the rules, 0c!

This is to make students pay attention to their studies, you have a great potential for growth, don't delay your far-reaching future due to small immediate benefits. The cultivation of high-end talents is often difficult, as the saying goes, 'Ten years to grow trees, a hundred years to cultivate people', and the history of human civilization proves that ......

This AI pushes so many words!

You've got a hard-on for disliking you, don't you?

Lu Xun's head was full of black lines, and when the elevator door opened, he whooshed in, finally getting rid of this annoying guy.

Chapter 4: Octopus Butcher!

Jinghai City has more than a thousand elevator shafts leading to the underground city, with the deepest area located ten kilometers deep underground.

As you can imagine, riding an elevator is also a great test of patience.

Lu Xun casually found a seat and sat down, took out the bluetooth headset from his pocket and put it on, turned on the music function of the communicator and listened to a song while closing his eyes.

The soothing melody relaxed him all over.

One by one, people passed the test and got into the elevator.

There were men and women, dressed differently, almost all adults, working people from all walks of life.

Quite a few of them had prosthetics implanted in their bodies in one form or another, machinery bonded to flesh and blood, metal structures exposed on the surface of their skin.

The efficiency of the work can be increased dramatically after the modification of the flesh.

The secondary self-cycling city, where 80% of human society's manual labor has been replaced by machines and AIs, has seen productivity advance by leaps and bounds.

But ai can't completely replace humans either.

There is a lot of work that still has to be done by people.

Fully automated production is only possible with a self-circulating city of four or more levels.

The development of the city needs to be tailored to the local conditions, according to the geographical location, the surrounding environment, the fissure resources and other factors, to tailor the development strategy.

The development potential of Jinghai City is actually quite average.

It's good enough to get to level 2, level 3 is presumably the upper limit of the city's growth, and anything further is pretty much enough.

After reaching the third level, there will be no class barriers between elites and commoners, as the rich resources will enable everyone to live the life of the elites.

But the gap between each level of the self-cycling city is super large.

It took Jinghai more than two hundred years to go from one to two.

You want to get to level three? Borrow another 500 years from the sky!

The future is no more beautiful than the people of the present can enjoy.

All they can do is to implant prosthetics, modify their physical bodies, improve their ability to create value, enhance their self-competitiveness, and strive to be among the elite!

Therefore, Lu Xun, who was wearing a school uniform and without any prosthetic parts on his body, stood out a bit in the crowd.

Many citizens could not help but measure this teenager with their eyes: tall and thin, with broad shoulders and slender limbs. The clean-cut features still have a trace of childishness, seemingly energetic.

Is this the uniform of the first high school? What's an aristocratic student doing riding an elevator in the outer boroughs? Don't they have classes on Mondays? Everyone is feeling quite new.

Lu Xun didn't care about the gazes of the bystanders and listened to the song by himself.

After the elevator had gathered enough people for a hundred or so, it finally started up and slid down towards the depths of the earth.

It's like catching the subway to work, only with more weightlessness.

At each level of the underground base reached, the elevator stopped and opened the doors.

People kept leaving and joining midway through.

Thirty minutes later.

Finally reached the -174f level.

Lu Xun stepped out of the elevator door, and a vast and sprawling huge base came into view!

Covering an area larger than the inner city on the surface, the lights illuminate every area.

This layer of the base contains three livestock farms, seven slaughterhouses, and many food processing plants, leather factories, and fertilizer plants ......

So just as soon as you leave the house, you can smell a slightly nauseating odor in the air.

But Lu Xun had gotten used to it long ago.

He set off on the base bus, and after another ten minutes, he finally arrived at his destination, the Lin Sheng Slaughterhouse!

The slaughterhouse covers an area about the size of two soccer fields and consists of several plants and warehouses where livestock are cleaned, processed, inspected and refrigerated.

Yo~ What's Lu doing here, skipping class again, huh?

The security guard at the door was a bearded middle-aged man who was doubly surprised to see Lu Xun arrive.

This kid just went back to school yesterday and today he's here?

Well, good noon Uncle Li, is the old octopus around? Lu Xun greeted and asked.

Shouldn't they be in the cooler checking orders? Check it out.

Okay, see you later.

Lu Xun nodded and walked into the slaughterhouse, heading straight to a warehouse in the southeast.

When he arrived at the place, he did not rush to knock on the door.

Instead, he glanced at the floor to his right, where a pot of succulents lay.

That's the code word for open for business, secure.

If it is a cactus, it is closed for business.

The slaughterhouse is just camouflage.

Lu Xun's titular apprentice status is also a disguise.

This is actually an unlicensed prosthetic hospital, also known as black clinic.

Only the old octopus was so perfectly disguised that the nearly 1,000 employees of the slaughterhouse didn't know the truth.

There were only two prosthetic doctors in this small clinic, besides the old octopus, there was Lu Xun himself.

The code words hidden in the pots are only read by them and some of their regular customers.

Lu Xun also never shows his face to receive a consultation.

Each time, he changed his costume and put on his mask and sunglasses before approaching the guests.

Therefore, the old octopus was the only one in this world who knew his true identity.

After all, it is against the rules to run a black clinic, let alone a prosthetic hospital.

If you are caught, you will face huge fines and even criminal liability in serious cases.

So no amount of caution is too much!

Bong-Bong--

Lu Xun knocked on the door, and not long after, footsteps approached from behind the door.

The other party had already known the identity of the visitor through the surveillance, so they opened the door with great confidence.

The little brat is finally here, I'm dying of anxiety!

The old voice was slightly hoarse, and an old man over sixty years of age appeared in front of him.

He had a large bald spot on the top of his head, with only some straggly gray hairs in and around his temples.

The left and right eyeballs were replaced with different models of electronic eyes, one large and one small, one red and one green; the ears were also replaced with mechanical prosthetics similar to those of a cat.

In addition, the hands and feet were all mechanical, glowing with cold metal.

Of course, the most notable thing was the six mechanical arms he had mounted on his back, some thick and some thin, retractable and foldable, with different shapes, like six octopus tentacles.

This old man is Lin Sheng, nicknamed Octopus Butcher.

Once a master prosthetist.

The old octopus had his license revoked, fined out of business, and stripped of his D.C. residency in a very serious medical malpractice.

He was also Lu Xun's teacher.

However, for some reason, there is no master-disciple relationship between the two, only a relationship of interest.

You still haven't gotten that nano wing modded? Today's the deadline kid.

The old octopus hotly tugged Lu Xun inside, his tone anxious and grumpy: This is an old customer, we can't lose our credibility.

Don't need you to teach me how to do things. Lu Xun glanced at him coldly and casually threw his school bag at him, If it weren't for the money, I wouldn't do this disgusting, lousy job!

It was for the modification of this shitty prosthetic body that he skipped two weeks of classes and didn't even go to the commencement ceremony.

A centaur, taking the mechanical wings of the hippopotamus race and asking Lu Xun to help mount it on it ...... Nuts, right?

There are differences in the physical structure of different races.

Therefore, the same model of prosthetic product cannot be used by multiple races.

When purchasing a prosthetic body, you will have to tell the seller which race you belong to, provide detailed data about your body, and in more detail, even to which branch of the bloodline of the race.

After all, the Elves are also divided into what are called Dark Elves, Blood Elves, Greenfield Elves, and so on.

A customized mechanical wing for the Hippos, mounted on a centaur?

Although you both have the word horse, it's completely interspecies!

Lu Xun refused at that time, saying he couldn't do it.

The old octopus had been begging him for days, and he wouldn't budge.

The only reason I ended up taking it was because the other side added money ......

Lu Xun analyzed the centaur's body with his Right Hand of Omniscience, and then it took two weeks to modify the prosthetic wing to fit the centaur.

Don't be so resentful, I know it's really hard for you to do this, but isn't it nice to have money to earn?

The old octopus opened his book bag, stuck his robotic arm in and took a swipe.

A fist-sized ball of nano-metal was quickly removed.

When activated, the sphere unfolds and flows like fine sand.

In the blink of an eye, it took on its original form, turning into a pair of mechanical wings with a wingspan of over eight meters, which was very impressive!

Nanomaterials are not commonly used in prosthetics manufacturing, and while they are easy to store and have a cool effect, their utility is mediocre.

Only winged prostheses are used more often.

The pair of mechanical wings in front of him were different in many places from the last time he had seen them, and it was obvious that they had been greatly altered by Lu Xun.

Haha, I knew you boys had it in you.

The old octopus' eyes glowed and he couldn't help but laugh out loud, praising Lu Xun fiercely.

There's something I have to remind you, that centaur lied. Lu Xun's tone suddenly became serious.

Chapter 5: The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish.

Words.

The old octopus also tightened his smile and looked grave, Lying?

The centaur said that the prosthetic body was purchased by it from a proper source, only that it bought the wrong model when placing the order, and the other party wouldn't return it, so it came to us.

Problems?

Big problem! Lu Xun frowned, This is a second-hand prosthetic body with a production date of ten years ago. It's estimated that it was stripped from the corpse of some hippopotamus clan, and it's more than likely that a murder case is involved behind it.

Ch~ Why are you worrying about things again? Coward.

The old octopus, however, bristled with disdain and said, Couldn't it have been given to it by a friend of the Hippo tribe? Or picked it up on the street? We are a black clinic, why do we care so much?

You're the one who's too unreliable.

Lu Xun said in a deep voice:

I have said more than once, you do not what guests dare to welcome, what single dare to accept, it is easy to get into trouble, earn money also have to have life to do ah.

That was one of the differences between the two men.

The old octopus is money-minded and profit-driven, and can sometimes be oblivious to risk in order to make money.

Even if he is a wanted criminal with a lot of evil, as long as the other party pays enough money, he dares to open the door to welcome customers.

Take this centaur guest for example.

If the other party really has a murder on him and reports the black clinic after he falls into the net, then the old octopus iron is finished, and may even drag Lu Xun into the water as well, facing the punishment of fines and dropping out of school!

But the old octopus insisted on doing this business, first coaxed and then lured with profit, annoying Lu Xun for many days.

Coupled with the fact that Lu Xun was also really short of money, he finally had to agree to join him in seeking riches in danger.

We are running a black clinic, it's good to have customers, how dare you be picky?

The old octopus grunted in exasperation, I'm not even afraid, what are you afraid of?

Nonsense! Lu Xun glared and disliked, You're an old man who's half in the ground, so of course you have reasons not to be afraid. I'm so young and have a great future, can you compare yourself to me?

Psst!

The old octopus was so enraged that he blew his beard and nearly spat out blood.

This brat's attitude towards his mentor has changed too much!

When we first met three years ago, this kid called him Master and treated him with respect.

Half a year later, Lu Xun was released from the master, the old octopus no longer have anything to teach him, and then the name changed from master to old man.

After another year, the old octopus's status in the clinic had once again declined and he became an assistant to Lu Xun in the operating room.

The terms of endearment changed again, such as Old Octopus, pass me the bone saw, Old Octopus, give me the scissors, Old Octopus, get out of here, don't be an eyesore.

Of course, it wasn't really Lu Xun's fault.

He did respect the Master quite a bit at first.

But as he got along day by day, the old guy's image in his mind crumbled a little.

This is a profit-oriented, greedy and stingy, discredited and extremely selfish old man!

The other party had never treated Lu Xun as a disciple either, but merely used him, all for the sake of profit.

Your boy's grudge against me is getting bigger, huh?

The old octopus carried his hands behind his back and said with a leathery smile:

You're right, youth is capital. You have a big future ahead of you, and there's not much time left to stay with me, so it's time to go and stay.

But for the limited time we still have together, let's argue less and get more money. You need money more than I do, don't you?

Words.

Lu Xun was muted for a few seconds.

Then, he indifferently glanced at the other party and said:

Anyway, you're in the clear and I'm in the dark, so I can get out any time I want. If you mail it, I'll change partners.

You contact the guests, I'll go ahead and prepare for the surgery.

With that said, the two staggered past.

Each went about their own work.

Squeak-

The whirring of various cutters, drills, and chainsaws resounded in the operating room.

Lu Xun wore a dark green surgical gown, a mask and goggles, and his eyes were as calm as ice.

The blade tore through skin, fascia and muscle, and the bones were sawed apart one by one.

Blood froth and bone shavings splattered, staining the curtains around them, and arterial blood sprayed onto the ceiling.

Crimson blood gurgled on the operating table and flowed to the floor, pooling like a stream.

The old octopus stood as an assistant, six robotic arms plus his left and right hands, all holding various types of surgical tools.

When Lu Xun needed it, he could be the first to hand something to the attending surgeon.

The major surgery lasted a full eight hours!

The centaur woke up a few times during that time, letting out a mournful scream, but was soon anesthetized and passed out again.

When Lu Xun walked out of the operating room, it was almost midnight.

He changed out of his blood-stained scrubs and gloves and went to the restroom to wash his face, exhaustion in his eyes.

Seven missed calls?

Lu Xun glanced at the communicator on his wrist.

He set it on mute during the surgery and didn't notice the call.

My aunt and uncle called three times and my cousin called four times.

He called home in a hurry.

The phone was quickly answered after only half a ring, and the person on the other end seemed to have been keeping the communicator on, and was still awake at this hour.

Hello? Auntie, I've just finished work, I'll be back later. Ah? Meals don't need to be warmed up, I'll eat some snacks outside on ...... OK, then I'll go back early. You can just put it on the table after heating it up, don't wait for me. Well, well, I know, you rest early, I still have to send Xiao Yu to school tomorrow morning.

End of communication.

Lu Xun revealed a helpless expression.

His aunt insisted on warming up his food, saying it wasn't safe to be out there in the middle of the night.

Can't argue with her.

But it's true that the outer boroughs aren't very safe at night.

Street skaters and punks frequent the streets, and often drag racers blow up the streets.

We even occasionally run into a big scene of a firefight between the forces of darkness and evil.

......

Wash your face and be much more awake.

Lu Xun put his wig, sunglasses, and mask back on and walked out of the bathroom.

Just as he came out, he saw that two-meter tall centaur warrior from afar.

It was humanoid above the waist and a tall four-legged horse body below the waist.

The horse's back was covered in blood, but the hideous wound had closed up.

After the surgery, the horse has a pair of lifelike feathered tattoos on its back, which only need to be activated in order to spread the mechanical wings.

Fresh from a major surgery that broke his bones, he was walking on the ground and alive.

This is thanks to the advancement of technology.

As long as you don't do particularly strenuous exercise and take your pain medication on time, it won't affect your daily life.

It will be fully recovered after a while.

There are not many side effects associated with the implantation of a civilian grade prosthesis.

The old octopus nodded and sent his guest away.

Then he walked towards Lu Xun and handed him a bill of accounts.

According to the previous agreement, you take 80% and I take 20% of the money earned from this business after costs are deducted. Check it out, and I'll give you the settlement if you're sure it's okay.

Lu Xun took it and looked it over, then nodded.

Most of the time the two split the bill 50/50.

The old octopus takes care of the clientele and provides the place, tools, and medications needed for the operation, plus being an assistant.

Lu Xun, on the other hand, is purely a lead surgeon.

However, this time was a bit special, Lu Xun had put in a lot of effort to complete the transformation of the prosthetic body, and the credit was huge.

So he takes 80%.

The old octopus is also very quick, immediately took out a pile of bills, and counted them one by one in front of him.

Transferring money is actually more convenient and the money arrives in a second, but it's very insecure and easily exposed.

Gray and black industry, still reliable with cash.

Ninety-eight thousand six hundred dollars, let's make it up to you, so you don't have to make a stinky face in front of me every day.

The old octopus cursed and slapped one hundred thousand dollars in cash into Lu Xun's hand.

Lu Xun weighed the thick pile of banknotes and couldn't help but smile slightly as he slipped the money into his pocket.

The old octopus, however, began to sneer, Damn, before you were yelling that you wouldn't do it, but you ended up smiling so brightly when you split the money. The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish, do you get it now?

The bigger the wind and waves the easier it is for the boat to capsize as well. Lu Xun raised an index finger, shook it, and said to him, We're both in the same boat, but you're the one rowing, and I don't have an oar in my hand.

Old octopus, I have no objection to you going out fishing on a windy day, but next time please make sure you let me off the boat first.

I don't want to flip with you, understand?

He had expected the old octopus to argue with him like a pinhead, as he had done in the past, with no one being convinced of anything.

But rather surprisingly, the old octopus didn't talk back this time.

The old man's pair of electronic eyes stared fixedly at Lu Xun, silent.

He stared straight at Lu Xun for more than ten seconds.

Suddenly opening his mouth, he asked coldly:

Lu, if you only need to go out once in the windiest weather to catch all the fish in the sea ...... do you still want to get off the boat?

Chapter 6 : The dream of becoming a big muscle man!

What do you mean?

Alarm rose within Lu Xun.

The old octopus was now in a very wrong state, with a vague look of madness.

It was as if he was a gambler who had put all his chips on the line and was ready to throw his money away.

Why don't you come with me and I'll show you something.

The old octopus didn't answer Lu Xun's question directly, but dropped a sentence before turning away with his hands behind his back.

What the hell? I still have to go home for dinner, don't be so secretive.

Lu Xun couldn't help but get a little impatient as he followed him left and right to a secret room.

Ka-chow--

The old octopus opened a secret compartment on the floor of the chamber, and the eight mechanical arms fired in unison, carrying out a very heavy and huge safe.

The safe is close to one person high.

Upon opening it, inside were piles of neatly stacked banknotes amounting to about nearly ten million dollars.

Dungeons are expensive as it is to rent land, not to mention a bunch of expenses like paying workers, paying taxes, utilities, garbage disposal, and so on.

This slaughterhouse does not make any money at all, and sometimes it even has to go backwards.

Purely a tool used to cover black clinics.

It's the black clinics that are the source of profiteering!

It's unbelievable that a civilian in the outer boroughs can have millions in savings.

All of the old octopus's savings for most of his life are here.

Although the man was terrible, in some ways, even Lu Xun had to admire him.

Like the perseverance of an old octopus saving money!

Old bachelor in his sixties.

But money is like life, there is a kind of magic obsession with money, in order to make money can put their lives on the line.

If you make money and you don't, you keep saving, saving, saving ......

The ultimate hoarder!

At first, Lu Xun thought that he was saving it for his grandchildren, grandchildren, and other juniors.

Because the old octopus had a pendant that he cherished very much that had a picture of a little boy in it.

Lu Xun often saw him open the locket and stare at the picture.

Obviously it was someone important to him.

Lu Xun asked the old octopus about the boy's identity.

However, the other party said that the boy in the photo died more than 30 years ago, and he did not say what relationship the child had with him.

It was only later that he learned that the old octopus had long since lost any family in the world.

Then he could only be saving for his own retirement.

He wants to save enough money to make the rest of his life worry-free and then retire in peace.

But it's also too greedy!

Ten million dollars isn't enough for your retirement?

You can't even stop making so much money, so it can be a lucrative experience.

What? Are you trying to show off your petty cash with me? Lu Xun teased.

No, I wanted to show you this.

The old octopus removed a silver-white object from the bottom compartment and handed it over.

Lu Xun took it and held it in his hands to look through it.

The thing was shiny with bone, had an ivory-like touch, and a distinct metallic structure that made it heavy in the hand.

This is a prosthetic body ...... Why does it look so strange?

Lu Xun couldn't help but be surprised.

He had never seen this type of prosthetic body before.

He can recite backwards and forwards all the styles and models of civilian grade prosthetics on the market.

But for a moment he couldn't recognize the thing in his hand.

Its shape resembled a vertebrae. A section on the cervical vertebrae, to be precise, but it was too thick and obviously not a human cervical vertebrae.

Interesting... a prosthetic body made from a special biological skeleton fused with machinery? When did this new product appear?

Lu Xun pretended to be talking to the old octopus.

In fact, the right hand quietly launched a parse.

[Analyzing...5%...20%...38%...]

[Parsing complete!

[Characterization points +58!

[Included: Creature icon x1 (disabled), Non-creature icon x1 (disabled)].

[The Illustrated Book of Red Ghosts]

[Iconic completeness: 0.45%, branch: red ghost. Life Level: Special. Part: Cervical vertebrae. Magical Attribute: Fire. Racial Avatar...Innate Talent...Year of Biological Death...]

[Illustration: War